I’ve got some very rare footage tonight of one of my favorite guitarists
of all time. Duane Allman
(Howard Duane Allman), (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was the co-founder and leader of the Allman
Brothers Band, until his early death in a motorcycle accident in 1971 at the
age of twenty-four. As members of the Allman Brothers band, Duane was known as
the guitarist while Greg was the keyboard player. But it was Gregg who first
started playing the guitar. In 1960, Gregg had saved enough money to buy his
first guitar, a Japanese-made Teisco Silvertone, while Duane bought a Harley
165 motorbike. But watching Gregg play began to pique Duane’s interest in the instrument,
leading to fights over the guitar. Finally fed up with the fighting, their
mother went out and bought Duane a Gibson Les Paul Junior. He got the better
deal.
Duane learned
to play very quickly and soon became the better guitarist of the two, dropping
out of high school to stay home during the day and focus on developing his guitar
skills. Duane and Gregg played off and on in several local bands until one day
in 1968, Gregg paid a visit to Duane on his 22nd birthday only to
find his brother sick with a fever. Gregg’s birthday gift was a bottle of
Coricidin tablets and Taj Mahal’s debut album. About two hours after Gregg
left, he got a call from Duane urging him to get back over to Gregg’s house
ASAP. When Gregg got there, he found that Duane had poured the pills out of the
bottle, washed off the label and was using it as a slide to play “Statesboro
Blues.” Duane had never played slide before, but just picked it up and started
burning.
After years of session playing, Allman got together with R&B and jazz drummer Jaimoe
Johnson, and through a convoluted
path, eventually accumulated band members Butch Trucks, Berry Oakley, and
Dickie Betts. The Allman Brothers Band went on to become one of the most
influential rock groups of the 1970s, as well as one of the best.
Statesboro Blues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUgk_Tsee6s&feature=related
Whipping Post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6mwOixCObc&feature=related
Loan me a dime: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvDlenMEf4k&feature=related
Amazing Grace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9OGNMJ0-Kw&feature=related
Little Martha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmSPCOby-1A&feature=fvwrel
In Memory of Elizabeth Reed/Whipping post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo6NbP0IbOQ&feature=related
Fillmore East Concert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hywD2E5fetE&feature=related
Summer weather arrived early this year so I got a jump on my
white wines. Tonight I’m pairing Duane Allman with a wonderful refreshing wine,
a 2011 Bricco delle Ciliegie Roero Arneis ($18.00). This is a great wine to be
sipped alone or with food and it goes well with fish or fowl. Paired it with grilled
salmon tonite…delicious!) The wine is made from the Arneis grape. It’s
pale yellow with aromas of green apples, lemon, and lime that follow on the
palate. It has a tiny bit of fizz that makes it all the more refreshing. But be
fore warned; you’ll probably want more than one bottle. Enjoy!
Cheers!
